1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of script processing and more particularly to the field of progress indicator management for script processing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Trends in computer science have included a larger emphasis upon program logic which is no longer confined to mere compiled code. Due in part to the explosion of different platform types deployed about the computing world, processor specific compiled logic no longer meets the requirements of every user. To accommodate the new paradigm, script logic has supplanted compiled logic at least in the context of automating computing tasks irrespective of the computing platform.
Generally, script logic involves a platform agnostic set of instructions which, at run-time, can be interpreted by a script engine. The script engine can translate the agnostic set of instructions into platform specific instructions which in turn can be executed in the specific platform. Examples include not only client side, Web browser based and server-side executed scripts such as Javascript and VBScript, but also more directed scripting environments including Perl and ANT. Thus, while script logic generally has existed in one form or another for decades, including rudimentary forms of the BASIC programming language, the diversification of operable computing platforms has breathed new life into this mode of computing.
Tracking the progress of the execution of a computer program can be important for many applications—especially application installation programs, application update programs and the like. In this regard, as the processing for these programs can consume a great deal of time, it can be helpful for an end user not only to know that the application remains operable and has not “hung”, but also to know how much time remains before the processing completes. In both the case of compiled logic and script logic, developers customarily hard-coded a progress indicator that indicated how much of the processing has completed, albeit without any great precision.
Scripting languages, in particular, often fail to incorporate progress indication logic. To provide a crude form of progress indication, developers insert static markers within a script to produce milestones of progress. The milestones of progress can be captured by additional logic and utilized to render a progress indicator. Notwithstanding, because embedded markers are static in nature, the value displayed in a progress indicator only is as valid as the developer's a priori guess regarding the relative duration of the various portions of the script demarcated by the static markers.